ANDREA BLOOM: $40 million could buy a lot of education

Friday

It isn’t surprising that our governor has responded to the tragedy at NIU by doing the only thing he does well – propose to spend lots of money we don’t have.

It isn’t surprising that our governor has responded to the tragedy at NIU by doing the only thing he does well – propose to spend lots of money we don’t have.

The wishes of those closer to the event are easier to understand with compassion, especially now, just two weeks afterward, when the full weight of grief may just be flooding over their initial shock at the shootings.

Demolishing Cole Hall and replacing it with a $40 million new building does sound like a nice idea. Sweep away the horror of those few minutes when a deranged young man took those precious lives and changed so many more forever. Just tear the whole place down and no one will ever have to go there again and confront that unbearable pain.

But from a slightly more distanced perspective, I would like to say, let’s just slow down a minute and think about this. Forty million dollars? To be paid by taxpayers in a state where healthcare providers are refusing service to those in need, or else just going under, because the state can’t pay its bills? Where school districts are struggling to keep their doors open and college students have to mortgage their future to get a college degree?

To me, that doesn’t sound like the right way to honor the students who lost their lives.

And it surely does not show a responsible and caring example to our college age adults of how to live through a tragedy, pick up the pieces, strive to find meaning from what has happened, and carry on in a way that honors the past and reveres the future. Frankly, it looks a little bit like making ourselves feel better by going shopping. As if that will somehow validate the worth of those lost lives or empower the survivors to overcome the wound inflicted by that act of madness.

Wouldn’t it be more meaningful to preserve that place of learning and prove that one monstrous act does not have the power to destroy everything it stands for?

There are limitless dignified ways to consecrate a place, with the intention that what happened there should not be forgotten, but remembered as time passes. A beautiful stained glass window, a quiet courtyard, a shimmering fountain . . . .

None of those memorials would cost a small fortune, nor do they need to in order to honor those who were lost and bring healing to those who carry on.

But if the people of the State of Illinois are going to be asked to pay that small fortune, we should at least use it for some purpose worthy of the sacrifice.

Based on information on NIU’s Web site, a four-year education for an Illinois student, including tuition, room and board, books, insurance, and transportation, costs about $75,000 – out of reach for many hardworking families that help support the university. A $40 million donation could buy that four-year college education for over 500 young people, or make it affordable for many more. Invested as a foundation, it could make a college degree possible for thousands.

What a meaningful memorial that would be.

Andrea Bloom is the editor of the Earlville Post. She can be reached at abloom@earlvillepost.com.